Posted in Guest Post, millennial, small business, social media
4 comments
15/07 2010

Top 10 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Exploding

Kait is a recent college graduate, newfound entrepreneur and working on her IMBA on her spare time.  She is avidly unique and confronts life with precocity attributable to her coffee addiction.  Her passions include running, writing, the mountains and social media marketing.   Visit: KaitVinson.com or @TheRealKait

Top 10 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Exploding:

There has been a lot of buzz recently about the future of marketing and social media.  The emergence of social media networks and social media managers has been in astounding numbers.  I did a little research as to why this was happening at such as rapid rate and this is what I found.

  1. Low-cost/high returns: Most social media networks are virtually free, allowing you to spread your message far and wide without incurring massive costs.
  2. The audience is limitless: Users of the internet visit billions of websites everyday which exponentially increases the likelihood that you will be seen.  If Facebook were a country, it would be bigger than the United States.
  3. Target markets: It’s easy to target markets and achieve maximum results rather than the traditional shot in the dark marketing.
  4. Natural traffic: If people like something, they’ll not only visit it but share it, which increases traffic.  Additionally, people often visit specific sites or topics in which they are interested thus improving the quality of traffic.
  5. More time is being spent on the internet, on both computers and phones: Online shopping for example has taken huge gouges out of traditional shopping means such as malls.  Who would rather wait in lines during the holiday season than order from home?
  6. Better search engine results:  The more references search engines pick up to sites the higher they are on result pages.  Thus the more social media networks that are linked together provide better search results than without.
  7. It complements other efforts: Social media doesn’t eliminate needs for other marketing efforts but rather augments them. For instance, if a company lists their fan page or Twitter account on their billboards or website interested customers can stay updated easier and more frequently.
  8. Information & sharing is immediate: As soon as someone sends out a tweet, status update or blog post their entire network can see it instantaneously.  This eliminates the traditional wait period of mailings, commercials, and even emails.
  9. It has viral potential: People tend to have their guard down more often when they are on their social media networks and thus it is easier for marketers to get their message through and share it to the masses.
  10. The next generation is the technology generation: There have been more technology advances in the past 10 years than in the previous 50 years.  Technology is increasing at a doubling rate – double a dollar 20 times it becomes a million dollars – and people are becoming increasingly more accepting and reliant upon it.

 
Posted in Corporate Strategy, Micro-Blogging, Reputation Management, Social Media Community, Social Strategy, innovation, millennial, small business, social media
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10/04 2009

Forget Social Media Measurement. Get Back to the Basics.

There has been a lot of talk about measurement and return-on-investment in the world of social media. Where and what do we measure? Is there any type of return on investment we can micro manage down to the point of dollars and cents?

Richard Stacy asked a brilliant question on his Social Computing Journal post called Social Media Measurement – Are We STaring At Stones? Are we measuring/looking at the wrong thing? Are we missing the point when we use Web 1.0 measurement tools and try to squeeze them into a Web 2.0 – 3.0 world? I think so. I would guess that Richard would agree.

Are we staring at the finish line without starting the race?

We are focused so intently on understanding the measurement model of social media that we fail to recognize the tool itself.  We fail to realize that a complete understanding of social media (as a tool) has yet to be accomplished. We need to back up and refocus. As a company, we are just as guilty.

It is hard for me to swallow the concepts of using traditional and web 1.0 measurements tools (traffic, click-throughs) to social media tools like Twitter.  What is the answer? Ad agencies are falling over themselves to gain as many viewers as possible to online videos. We can have 2 million views on a YouTube video but does that measure to actual growth in sales? It is hard to tell and becoming increasingly harder (Google aquisition of YouTube).

I don’t have the answer. Every interactive marketing firm on the planet is trying to measure this phenomenal new medium of communication… We all have case studies but there hasn’t been a proven formula for measurement.

Maybe we need to go back to the basics… refocus on completely understanding a new medium  that is changing our entire communication formula.

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Posted in millennial, social media
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12/01 2009

Breaking Into the Minds of the Gen Y via Automobiles

Ahh Generation Y… Otherwise known as the coveted Millennial Generation. Otherwise known as “Big Businesses want a piece of this action” demographic. And again, otherwise known as the “Facebook” Generation. We are a powerful generation at 75 million strong and brands will be developing to cater to every single need. So let’s break the generation down a little bit.

I wanted to break apart some information from a Deloitte Survey (courtesy of brandeo) that has some information regarding Generation Y weighing in on what is making automobiles cool again. I thought the survey had some interesting points on product development in the eyes of the younger generation.

The Top 3 Cool Factors for Gen Y in Automobiles

1. Exterior Styling

2. Affordability

3. Being Environmentally Friendly

It does make sense right?

The main point I took away from the Deloitte Survey was this comment from a PR Release:

The students found that their peers are not satisfied with what they consider their parents’ Generation of cars, but instead feel vehicles should be an extension of their lives and as such be customized to fit their always on, always moving lifestyle.

I don’t think you can get a clearer example of the power of experiential marketing. We want a brand that speaks to our need to feel connected. I want a car that looks cool, is affordable, and keeps me going – 24/7.

By the way, a recurring theme among the survey participants was the need for more connectivity via Wi-Fi, Facebook, and Twitter. Social Media in your vehicle? Say it ain’t so!

Calling all Gen Y Marketers: Now the question is… how do you take this information and apply it to your own products or services? Are you doing what it takes to capture my generation? If you are building a long term brand now is the time to capture and KEEP my attention.

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Posted in millennial, social media
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23/10 2008

Are We The Dumbest Generation? Do Me A Favor And Take a Look in the Mirror

There is an underground campaign slowly spreading through the rank and file of many academics, journalists, and other individuals. This campaign can be aptly named the Digital Stupidity of the Younger Generations. I have been reading quite a few posts recently about the lack of “true” intelligence in the digital generation. Frankly, I’ve reached my breaking point. Thanks to The Independent, a newspaper based out on London, I have finally gone over the edge of annoyance to downright anger.

Andrew Keen has a post on Digitally Addicted Kids Threaten to Return Civilisation to the Dark Ages.  Here is a brief synopsis of the post from the author:

The internet is creating a generation of ignoramuses with tiny attention spans, who will surely become the dumbest generation in history.

Andrew starts the post by talking about Megan Meier, a teen who committed suicide over the cyber-bullying of a peer and the peer’s mother. This is a sad story of a social network being used in the worst possible way. I haven’t quite figured out how it connects to the increasing lack of intelligence in my generation.

Book cover of

Book cover via Amazon

From Andrew’s Post:

In The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future, the Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein demonstrates how the internet is making young people increasingly ignorant about almost everything except online video games and the narcissism of self-authored internet content.

I don’t know about the rest of my generation but I am getting pretty tired of being stereotyped.

Would you like to know one of the main reasons why kids spend too much time playing video games? Why do you think teenagers spend so much time on social networks like Myspace and Facebook?

Parenting.

There has been so much blame placed on media and technology for the lack of intelligence in my generation. In reality, the majority of the problem is in the older generation and how they have raised the younger future. If you want your kids to read. If you want the younger generation to pick up a book instead of browsing blogs… encourage us.

I would rather not read degrading posts and comments around our lack of inhibition or intelligence. You are stereotyping an entire generation of future business leaders, politicians, service workers, teachers, and everything in between.

We need to take a look at all areas of the problem and not just video games or social media. Social Media has been a huge influence in my life, both intellectually and personally. If you are going to completely degrade something that has had a large impact in my life… do it with some class because you are embarrassing yourself.

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